


digging a well

by julesbee



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Kravitz is a dork, M/M, Taako is powerful oh boy, is this a meet cute idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 07:39:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19848586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julesbee/pseuds/julesbee
Summary: Taako tests a spoonful of elderberry sauce at his show in Glamour Springs. He’s losing consciousness before the chicken is cooked.Luckily, the dosage is too low for him to die instantly.Or: Taako magics up a storm, is arrested by a skeleton, and gets a cute guy’s frequency.





	digging a well

**Author's Note:**

> My first work in this fandom! I'm posting this mostly so I stop editing and re-editing.  
> Enjoy!

Learning magic is like digging a well. For some, they have to dig deep, and every time they want to cast a spell, they have to labour hard to draw up enough magic. For Taako, this was not the case. Ever since he had started to dabble in transmutation for his show, his magic was always right beneath the surface, spilling out left and right with as little as a flick of the wrist. For him, containing it was the actual issue, but he learned. Now that he is just about dying, his already shaky grasp on his magic begins to waver.

Needless to say, Sazed doesn’t make it.

The magic rolls off Taako in waves, bleeding into his surroundings, turning the wooden floorboards, oak, stone, sand, oak—The waves get bigger, bringing the stagecoach down, lapping at the last of the scrambling audience members and he cries out desperately, because no, he can’t get them hurt. It’s his last thought before he blacks out.

Taako comes to in a small, unfamiliar room. It’s tiled in shimmering black, neither warm nor cold. There’s no visible exit or light source, yet he can see. It feels distinctly unreal. He’s flat on his back, in clothes that are soft against his skin, not at all like his crisp chef’s jacket. He feels tired and floaty, as if he’s drifting in water.

There’s a ripping sound, and a light shines in from the ceiling. Taako squints. A skeleton peers down at him with glowing red eye sockets. When it sees he’s awake, it raises the scythe in its hand, widening the rift in the ceiling.

As it steps through the rift, the room shifts by ninety degrees. Taako is now pressed against the wall in an upright position. His stomach clenches, and his head is spinning. He has to close his eyes for a moment.

When he opens them again, the skeleton is gone. Standing in its stead is a handsome man, with red eyes and high cheekbones. “Congratulations, you didn’t die! I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you’d make it.”

His dreadlocks are decorated with gold beads. They gleam in the strange light. Taako can’t help staring at them.

“Taako? Can you hear me?”

He drags his eyes up to meet the man’s. They are a deep, strange color. Very nice.

“’M all ears, my fella. What’s up?”

“You totally lost control there, spewing magic all over the place. I brought you in to ride it out, even got you a fuckin’ cleric for the poisoning when it was clear you weren’t dying as fast as I thought you would.”

“Yeah, thanks for that, darling.” He tries to move, but he is solidly secured against the wall. “Now would you be a dear and untie me? I don’t appreciate bein’ manhandled by a fella who won’t even introduce himself.”

The man rolls his eyes. “My name’s Kravitz.”

“Nice to meet cha. Now are you gonna let me go or what? And where am I?”

“We’re in the Astral Plane.”

“Aw shit, did I die?”

“Not this time you didn’t, no. You managed to get a grip before your magic spilled entirely. Only killed the one guy—“

“Is that why I’m here?”

“No, that’s fine as far as the Raven Queen’s concerned. I mean, I think murder isn’t great but it’s not really my place to judge—“ He is rambling a little. It is kind of cute, if you ignore the fact that he has Taako bound to the wall.

Taako watches him talk, but he can’t quite focus on the words.

Suddenly the room lurches, and he’s on his back again, with Kravitz kneeling next to him. He’s close enough that one of his dreadlocks touches Taako’s cheek.

“You’re not about to go off again, are you?” Kravitz says, not unkindly.

“Nah,” he whispers, curling onto his side. He’s surprised Kravitz lets him move just like that. Maybe he doesn’t think him much of a treat.

“Great. I’ll get to it then. By the order of the Raven Queen I arrest you on charges of necromancy. You’ve died eight times, Taako, without ever checking into the Astral Plane. That’s quite impressive.”

Taako sits up bewilderedly. “So sorry to disappoint ya, darling. I appreciate the compliment of course, but Taako’s just a simple idiot chef, barely even a proper wizard. No necromancy here.”

Kravitz stands up, looming over Taako. He looks down at him, and with a wave of his hand, materializes his scythe. “I wish you necromancers would just try a little more with the excuses. I’ve heard that just about ten thousand times.” Kravitz looks earnestly disappointed.

“I’m not a fucking necromancer!” Taako scrambles to his feet, wracking his brain for a way out. There’s no exit, so neither fight nor flight. But Kravitz seemed to like talking. Maybe he gets lonely, only hanging out with the dead and undead.

“So when, uh, when would this dying stuff have been exactly? A fella’s got to know what his supposed crimes are, before he can talk his way out.” Not the best he’s ever come up with.

Kravitz smiles at him, conjuring a thick leather tome out of thin air, and starts leafing through it. With a click of his tongue, reading glasses appear as he seems to find Taako’s entry. It is almost jarringly dorky. “Ah yes. You’ve died a whopping eight times. First time a hundred years ago, then again 87 years ago, 43 years ago—“

Taako can’t help it, he laughs.

Kravitz glares at him, making his reading glasses vanish. “This is hardly a laughing matter.”

“Yeah my dude, it definitely is. Wanna know why?” He steps close to Kravitz, rising up on his toes to get right in his face. “I’m only 113. Do you really think I committed fuckin’ death crimes at 13? I was a baby!” He chortles a little more, just to piss this dude off. “Look it up in your little book, or whatever. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

Kravitz steps back, scanning the page again. Taako can see the way his shoulders drop as he realizes Taako is telling the truth.

“Something is wrong here.” Kravitz waves his scythe, forming a rift in thin air. He leaps through, leaving Taako behind.

Time is strange in the Astral Plane. Taako sits down on the floor after a while, staying there for what feels like hours, thoughts circling slowly. His panic from earlier drifts away, leaving him with nothing but the usual base level of anxiety. He distinctly thinks that maybe there is some sort of Calm Person spell on him, or woven through this weird magical cell.

After an undeterminable amount of time, Kravitz reappears, stepping neatly through a rift. He’s wrapped in a dark cowled cloak that wasn’t there before.

Taako looks up at him. “You letting me go now or what, my fella?” he says, “this was fun, but Taako’s got places to be. What happened to my clothes by the way? Taako only has the one chef’s jacket, so I’ll be needing those…” He trails off when he sees Kravitz face.

Kravitz shakes his head. “those burn’d, ahm afraid. Ripp’d apart by your mahgic.”

Taako blinks at him. Then he snorts. “What the fuck is that accent?”

“Wha’ do you mean by tha’?”

“You’re telling me that you’ve always had a horrendous fake accent? Yeah no, I think I would have noticed that. Nice try.”

“Well, this is embarrassing.” He smiles at Taako sheepishly, wrinkling his nose.

“Sure is. Really puts a hole in your Grim Reaper scary dude persona. No wait, that was already crushed by the reading glasses.”

“Boy, you’re not intimidated by me at all, are you?”

Taako is surprised to find that he isn’t. Kravitz is powerful, sure, and they are definitely outside Taako’s comfort zone, but Kravitz himself? Is actually kind of cute.

“Nope. Anyway, can I go now or what.”

“I actually have a couple more questions, if you don’t mind—“

“I do mind. I want to get back to the world of the living, pronto.”

Kravitz sighs, cutting a rift. Through it, Taako can see the stars. He walks by Kravitz, bumping into him none to gently, and climbs through.

He stands in Glamour Springs, in the town square. It is empty, lit gently by the moon. In the spot where his stagecoach had stood now lies a crumpled, molten mess that seems fused to the ground.

Kravitz steps out of the rift behind Taako. “It’s been nine days since your magic went wild. You and your assistant were declared dead by the law enforcement here.”

Taako can feel Kravitz’ eyes on him.

“I killed Sazed?” Sazed had been a pain in the ass lately, sure, but that didn’t mean he deserved to die. He could have just fired him if he hadn’t stopped with that rebranding nonsense.

“Yes, I suppose you did. He tried to kill you first though, I think you’re even.” Sazed tried to kill him? Nearly succeeded, too. That bastard.

He takes a step forward, icy toes catching on the cobble stone. Taako has no fucking clue what to do. He’s standing in the remains of his lifelong dream.

He scans for anything salvageable, and comes up with nothing. Then he just stares, stubbornly, hoping Kravitz will take the hint and leave him alone.

He’s shivering, he notices distantly. They grey tunic he’s wearing does next to nothing to shield him from the nighttime chill. There’s tears dripping down his cheeks, tickling his jaw. He doesn’t acknowledge them. Taako doesn’t cry, Taako doesn’t do emotions. Or so he tells himself.

He’s a resilient fellow, he knows, and he’s bounced back from worse. Once he’s been tied to a tree for two days, and he obviously survived, even if he can’t quite remember how. Maybe he’s repressed it, after all that is what one usually does with trauma.

Taako is startled from his thoughts by a soft weight dropping onto to his shoulders. It’s Kravitz, who is still there, and he’s placing his cloak on Taako’s shoulders. It’s soft to the touch, almost downy. Taako pulls it tighter around himself.

“There’s a few more questions I would like to ask.” Kravitz says. “I’ll pay you for your time, of course.”

It’d be easy to assume that Kravitz is taking pity on Taako. And perhaps pity plays a part in this offer, but Taako is too tired to care.

They walk to the town’s only inn, where a tired looking dragonborn clears them a table to sit at while they ready a room for Taako, a room that Kravitz is paying for of course.

Taako swings a chair around so he can sit on it backwards, while Kravitz awkwardly scooches onto the bench opposite him.

“So what’s my hourly rate here? Or are you paying by question?” Taako grins widely at Kravitz.

“Well, I got some gems, a bit of gold, though I don’t think it’s the right currency…” He seems uncomfortable. “You tell me what works for you.”

“For sure, okay. We’ll see.”

“So, um, Taako, first of all, the Raven Queen has cleared you of all charges of necromancy, so you’re all good on that front.” He pulls out the book again, making reading glasses appear.

Taako can’t help but smile. Now that they are on even terms, he’s really very adorable.

“So you are the first person I caught whose bounty was faulty, but you aren’t the only one. I just want to know if the other names ring any bells.”

Taako nods. “Okay, sure, go ahead.” He hasn’t decided if he would tell Kravitz if he knew any of them.

“Right. First one: Magnus Burnsides?” Kravitz peers at Taako intently.

Taako shrugs. No need to lie here. “Nope.”

“Lucretia.”

“Still nothing.”

“Barry Bluejeans.”

He shakes his head no. “What a great name, though, very nerdy.”

“Drew Davenport? Merle Highchurch.”

“Never heard of them.”

Kravitz turns the page, perking up suddenly. “Okay, here is the last one. Lup?”

Taako doesn’t know a Lup. He’s never heard the name before. So why is his heart beating fast so suddenly? He shakes his head.

“That isn’t very convincing, Taako. You don’t have to protect her, I’m sure her bounty is wrong just like yours.”

“I don’t know who that is, my man. Taako’s protecting no one but himself.”

“You have the same last name, Taako.”

“I don’t _have_ a last name!”

“Of course you do, it says right here, Taako [REDACTED]. I understand, you don’t want your [REDACTED] to get in trouble with the Grim Reaper.”

“I can’t hear half the words you’re saying! What are you playing at?”

“You can’t hear what?”

“I wouldn’t know, would I?”

"Okay. How about this: I say a sentence and you tell me which part you didn’t hear?”

Taako nods, laying his chin down on the back of his chair.

“Lup is [REDACTED].”

“Lup is fffffff.”

“Lup and Taako [REDACTED].”

“Lup and Taako ffssfsff.” He blows a raspberry for emphasis.

“Huh, okay. That is strange. I’ll look into it.”

“Glad I can be amusing, I guess.” This is really unsettling him. Better go back to safe territory. “Can I get my shinies now?”

Kravitz digs a handful of big gems out of his pocket, placing them in front of Taako.

“Thanks.” He takes them, but this tunic doesn’t have any pockets, so he has nowhere to put them. He places them in his lap.

Kravitz watches amusedly, then seems to come to a decision. He says: “Do you have a stone of farspeech?”

“You are well aware that I currently have fuck-all, my man.” Taako can’t help the bitterness that creeps in his voice.

Kravitz pulls a ring from his finger and holds it out to him.

Taako stares at it. “Uh, that’s nice of you my man, for sure, and Taako’s a catch, but—“

“What? Oh, no. This is a stone of farspeech I keep as backup. It's already attuned to my main one. Just call when you meet any of those people I just told you. Or people who you feel you should know, but don’t. Or if you come across any necromancers…”

Taako gingerly takes it, slipping it on his middle finger. “Or if I just want to have a nice chat?” He asks, with a crooked grin.

Kravitz smiles a soft little half smile. “Or that.”

“Will do.”

The dragonborn reappears, informing him that his room is ready now, so Taako gathers up his gems and stands up. “I’ll talk to you soon?” He says.

Kravitz nods, standing up as well. “Good night, Taako.” Taako gives him another smile, and starts up the stairs.

“I do need my cloak back, please. “

Taako walks back down so Kravitz can see his face, then whines. “But It’s so comfy, Krav!”

“It’s also my work uniform and a powerful magic item.”

“Well, I need all of those I can get my hands on, don’t you think? I don’t even have a focus right now.”

Kravitz steps close to him, close enough that Taako has to tilt his head to look up at him. Then he swiftly pulls the cloak from Taako’s shoulders.

Taako wraps his arms around himself, and sticks his tongue out.

Kravitz chuckles. “I’ll get you another one.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah. 
> 
> Thoughts? Comments? I'm really unsure about this, so I'd love to hear what y'all think.   
> Did I do okay characterization-wise? Is anything unclear plot-wise? Spelling mistakes? Did you have a good time reading?


End file.
